The Infant Ghost
by onemorehandmedown
Summary: Dean and Sam go to investigate what sounds like a garden variety haunting, only to find it is anything but.


Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, that would be Kripke and co. If you thought there was even the teeniest chance that I did you should be on the look out for the little men in white coats.

* * *

**Infant Ghost**

"So Sam, tell me again about this haunting." Dean had understood perfectly the first time but he was bored and as Sam was awake putting a spoon in his brother's mouth and photographing the spectacle wasn't an option.

"Well, it sounds like a haunting but I guess we can't know for sure until we actually get there and check it out."

"Okay then, tell me again about this 'whatever the hell it is'." The words were just dripping with sarcasm.

Sam rolled his eyes. "There's something going on at a unit in Marriatville. For twenty seven years this old couple lived there and everything was fine. Then the husband dies and the wife moves into a nursing home. Three young couples with little kids have lived there since but none of them have stayed more than a month. Something's freaking them out but they've been a bit sketchy on the details, probably think no-one will believe them. Except for the last couple. Julia Monroe has admitted seeing something in her son's crib when he stopped breathing. Luckily she knows first aid and was able to resuscitate him in time to save his life. I'm thinking that maybe the old man is hanging around for some reason."

"I get why you think it might be the old man, but why would he want to attack a baby?"

"I really have no idea." Sam replied. "But so far he looks the most likely. I mean, he didn't just live there for near thirty years – he died there too, in his bed. It's entirely possible he could be haunting the place."

"You have a point."

They settled back into silence. Dean grimaced as they passed a sign informing them that it was ten miles to Lawrence. He hadn't been able to find a way to avoid passing through there, but not for lack of trying. He looked over at Sam, only to find that his brother was asleep. How nice for him.

***

"Wake up!" Dean shook Sam's shoulder gently.

Sam looked up blearily and rubbed his neck. He groaned as he attempted to sit up straight.

"Remind me never to go to sleep in this car again. I feel like I've been tied up in knots." His back cracked as he stretched. "Where are we?"

"The Sparrow Inn, also known as home for the next couple of days. Now get your ass up and help me with the bags."

The Sparrow Inn didn't look like much but then nowhere in their price range ever did. As long as there was hot water in the showers and warm beds Dean didn't really care what the place looked like. Although, having said that, he'd come across some remarkably bad decorating on his travels. The last room they'd stayed in had been painted little girl pink and had contained more frills than the dress on your average toilet dolly. One night had been far too long in that place and Dean felt that if this room contained even one frill he might just run screaming in the opposite direction.

Grabbing the weapons bag and his own duffle, Dean marched towards the door to room fifteen and opened the door. Turning on the light he saw that the room was decidedly non frilly, but clearly there hadn't been much room in the budget for decorating. It seemed that rather than fork out for paint or wallpaper the owners had simply had someone vomit all over the walls. On the upside at least that person hadn't been eating beetroot beforehand or had a stomach ulcer because Dean could detect no traces of pink.

"What are you gawking at?" Sam demanded impatiently from behind him. "Move will you?"

Dean stepped inside without a word and watched with amusement as Sam stopped just inside the door to stare at the walls with a horrified expression on his face.

***

Having dumped their clothes at the motel, they set off to do a bit of quick reconnaissance on 3/15 Cooper Street before nightfall.

From the outside it looked perfectly normal. Old but well kept despite being located at the cheaper end of town, the uncut lawn and mailbox stuffed full of what was mostly advertising material were all that gave away the lack of occupants.

Satisfied that they weren't being observed, Dean stood watch while Sam worked on the lock. It was old and hadn't been very good quality to begin with so it didn't take very long for Sam to get the door open. They slipped inside, Sam following half a step behind Dean. The unit was not very large so there was no reason to split up. They checked out the living area, kitchen and bathroom without incident. The lack of furniture was causing even their softest whispers to echo, which was mildly creepy, but there was no trace of anything supernatural. The main bedroom was just as devoid of clues as everywhere else, but when they entered the last room the EMF meter in Sam's hand went wild.

Judging by the curtains with their pattern of teddy bears and rocking horses this had been a child's room. Dean noticed indents in the carpet near the wall at the far end of the small room. Was that where the crib had been?

As the EMF meter continued to shriek the temperature in the room plummeted and the curtains, not to mention Sam's unruly hair, started moving around in a non-existent wind. They hadn't been expecting to encounter the spirit in daylight but Dean had brought along the salt gun anyway. He scanned the room, trying to work out what direction he should be shooting in. But before he could locate the spirit he suddenly found himself unable to breathe. Dean coughed and gasped, trying desperately to drag air into his burning lungs, lungs that yearned for oxygen at the same time as they refused to accept any. He sank to the floor, his vision rapidly darkening. He was teetering on the brink of losing consciousness when he heard the sharp crack of gunfire, followed by a blessed rush of air into his chest.

"Are you ok?"

Dean was too busy gasping to answer, but it wasn't as though Sam didn't know exactly what he would have said. It would take a lot more than being suffocated almost to death to get Dean to tell Sam he was anything other than fine and both of them knew it.

"Was it the old guy?" Dean hadn't got even the tiniest glimpse of his attacker.

"No." Sam shook his head. "It was a baby."

Dean just stared. What the hell was a baby doing trying to kill him? He wondered briefly if Sam was joking but the expression on his brother's face was enough to make him dismiss that idea almost immediately.

"That is so wrong." A murderous baby was enough to freak out even Dean.

"Tell me about it. Now do you think you can walk? Cause we need to get out of here before she comes back for another round."

"She?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "You stopped to look down its diaper?"

Sam scowled. "No idiot. It was wearing a pink jumpsuit with a massive flower on the front. Are you going to get up or do I have to drag you out of here?"

***

"Sam, can you curse a bit louder? I think there might be some people in Antarctica who can't hear you."

Dean had just left the bathroom after a nice, hot, relaxing shower to find his brother turning the air a nice shade of blue.

"I was hoping to find out something about that baby but this shitty place doesn't have a wireless network and there aren't any others that are close enough for me to hack into! And now, the people in the next room are having a very good time, which is nice for them but I don't really want to be hearing it at top volume!"

Sam motioned irritably at the far wall and now that he was quiet Dean could hear the sounds of passionate lovemaking emanating from behind the paper thin wall. Obviously the woman was a screamer and Dean hoped fervently that they wouldn't be at it all night. He had been hoping to get some sleep. Right now he had to focus on calming down his irrationally pissed off brother.

"Well yelling probably isn't going to make your computer magically connect to the internet. Come on, I'll take you for a drive. We'll find something eventually."

"Ok." Sam looked at Dean with a sheepish expression. Maybe he'd realised he was behaving like an idiot.

***

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. The previous night's travels had been an exercise in futility with Sam's laptop choosing the exact moment they found a wireless network to run out of battery. Hence Sam was up at the crack of dawn raring to go to the library. Dean would have preferred to sleep a bit longer but with Sam tromping around the room like a herd of baby elephants that was impossible.

The Marriatville Public Library was just as boring to Dean as every other library he'd ever been in. He sat next to Sam and hummed AC/DC's 'Back in Black' under his breath until his brother snapped at him to shut up and go visit the victims, shoving a piece of paper with the addresses into Dean's chest as he spoke.

***

It was an incredibly productive way to spend the day; the victims were so forthcoming with what they'd seen. Not. Dean drove back towards the library hoping that Sam had had more luck because he hadn't found out anything much that he didn't already know. It would have been better if Sam had come with him. Sam always knew how to coax people into talking even when they thought they wouldn't be believed. It was probably something to do with those sensitive, puppy eyes. Whatever it was, Dean definitely didn't have it and as it was a Saturday all the couples had been together so flirting, which had worked for Dean in the past, had been out of the question. Having a mob of pissed off husbands chasing him was not at the top of Dean's wish list, in fact it didn't feature on there at all.

Sam was waiting outside the library when Dean arrived. The fact that Sam was outside even though the library was still open suggested that he had found something and this combined with the fact that he was wearing a somewhat shocked expression peaked Dean's curiosity.

"So, do we know who that baby is yet?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Sam said slowly.

"Well? Spit it out Sam!" Dean had used up his day's supply of patience getting nowhere with the victims.

"Her name is Catherine and I think I know why she's suddenly hanging around." Sam swallowed and looked at Dean closely for a moment before continuing. "Catherine was a SIDS baby. She was only two months old when she died and her parents left the unit about a month later. I think the reason she's woken up after all these years is because there have been children living in her room again."

"Okay, but why is she trying to kill the children? All I found out was that one or more of each couple's children had near death experiences where they stopped breathing. I seem to be the first adult she's gone after."

"Dean, I don't think she's trying to kill them. The children who stopped breathing, did they have anything in common other than being kids?"

Dean thought for a moment. "They were all boys."

Sam nodded slowly. "That fits with my theory. Catherine was a twin and I think she's looking for her brother. She's only a baby; she probably doesn't understand what's going on, that she's stopping the kids from breathing when she touches them."

"That doesn't explain why she went after me." Dean objected.

Sam sighed. "Actually, it does."

"How?"

"Did Dad ever tell you anything about when you were a baby?"

"Sam, what are you getting at? Dad never told me very much about when I was a baby, you know he never liked talking about the past."

"The last people to live in that unit before the old couple moved in were Mom and Dad. Catherine was our sister Dean, and she's looking for you." Sam explained quietly.

Dean went quiet, staring vacantly through the windscreen. He stopped at a red light and didn't notice when it turned green again, not until the person behind him sounded their horn in annoyance. Finally, he spoke.

"So, I had a twin? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Yes."

"Did you find out where she was buried?" Dean asked, trying to convince himself that this was just another hunt.

"Yes, but we might not have to do it that way. She's looking for you so maybe if you talk to her you can convince her to move on without having to burn her."

"Sam, in case you've forgotten she tried to suffocate me. It's difficult to talk when you can't breathe."

"I told you before, Catherine doesn't know what she's doing. She just wants to be with you. You have to understand Dean, up until Catherine died she had never been apart from you. The two of you shared a womb, you were kept side by side in the hospital and you shared a crib when you came home. She misses you."

Dean's eyes widened. "We shared a crib? So I was there, next to her when…when she…?"

Sam nodded sadly.

They drove on in silence.

***

Unable to stomach the idea of digging up his own sister's body to salt and burn it, Dean reluctantly agreed to Sam's suggestion of talking to Catherine. After dark, they collected their weapons just in case and made their way to 3/15 Cooper Street for what was hopefully the last time.

Once again Sam picked the lock while Dean stood watch. This time when the door opened they made their way directly to the second bedroom, stopping at the threshold.

"Catherine?" Dean called quietly, "Catherine?"

She answered his calls almost immediately. The temperature dropped sharply and the torch Sam was holding began to flicker. Inside the room a tiny figure began to take shape on the floor near the place where Dean had fallen the day before.

Catherine had a shock of pitch black hair and her eyes were the slate colour common amongst young babies. As Sam had said, she was wearing a pink jumpsuit with a large purple flower embroidered on the front. She looked in Dean's direction and kicked. Apparently being dead hadn't improved the level of control she had over her body, she seemed to be just as helpless as any other two month old child.

Dean stepped hesitantly into the room; stopping just out of reach of Catherine's flailing arms. He knelt beside her and she looked into his eyes. There was recognition there, though Dean still didn't understand how that was possible. She gurgled and reached for him.

"Catherine, I don't know if you understand a word I'm saying, but you can't stay with me." Dean stopped, trying to gauge if the words had meant anything to the infant ghost. He couldn't tell. "You have to leave here. Go to Mom. Can you see the light Catherine?"

It was still impossible for Dean to tell if his words were making any impact. He swallowed, knowing that he was taking a risk with what he was about to do but not knowing any other way to communicate with a baby. He reached out and touched her, and when he realised he was still breathing he picked her up and held her in his arms.

Catherine was weightless. Well, she was a spirit after all. But she felt solid as she leaned in to his touch and nuzzled the crook of his arm.

"I love you." Dean whispered, and it was true. He might not remember her but she was family and so he loved her anyway. He brushed his lips gently against her forehead.

Light bloomed in Catherine's chest and slowly made its way through her body until she was bathed in incandescence. It grew slowly in intensity, until she was gone and Dean was left standing in the dark.

He stood quietly for a moment, then turned to Sam who still waited in the doorway.

"You'd better make a note of that Sammy. You were right."

***

"Why didn't Dad tell me Sammy?"

They were back in the motel room and Sam had gone out for food which had given Dean time to brood.

"Well, like you said, Dad wasn't exactly known for talking about the past."

"Yeah, but you'd think he'd tell me something like that. I had a twin for God's sake and he didn't think it was important to tell me that?" Dean couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed at his father.

Sam shrugged. "I never understood the man, you know that. Why do you think just about all of our conversations were arguments? I don't know why Dad didn't tell you, but for what it's worth, I think he was wrong." He dropped the food on the table and sat down next to Dean on his bed. "I also think you did a really good job tonight."

Dean gave him a weak smile. "Thanks Sammy."

He got up and started opening the food.

"You know, it's not that late. What say we hit a bar after we eat?"

Sam just nodded and went to join Dean at the table.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated.


End file.
